Search

Placeholder Content Image

Grandmother's plea after tragic fatal school excursion

<p>A 13-year-old girl from New Zealand has tragically died after sustaining an “unsurvivable head injury” during a school excursion to an ice skating rink.</p> <p>Kymani was rushed from Alpine Ice Sports Centre to Christchurch Hospital in a critical condition on Tuesday morning, after falling while skating with her classmates. </p> <p>Following her sudden death, the young girl's grandmother created an online <a href="https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/ice-skating-school-trip-unexpected-tragedy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fundraiser</a>, where she explained, “Sadly while on a school excursion Kymani fell, sustaining an unsurvivable head injury.”</p> <p>“This is a parent’s worst nightmare — sending your child to school and to never return home,” Kymani’s family said.</p> <p>“Her parents, brothers, sisters and whanau are devastated. Kymani was a beautiful girl, only 13 years old."</p> <p>“As this is an unexpected tragedy, any funds would be gratefully appreciated and will go towards preparing for what comes next.”</p> <p>"Aroha nui Hiley-Hetaraka whanau (Much love to the Hiley-Hethara family)."</p> <p>The skating rink was closed on Tuesday, as spokesperson said the staff’s “thoughts are with the family at this time”.</p> <p>The Ministry of Education also released a statement, which read, “We are deeply saddened by the tragic news and our thoughts are with the family and school community. Our traumatic incident team is available to support the school for as long as needed.”</p> <p>WorkSafe NZ is looking into the incident.</p> <p><em>Image credits: givealittle.co.nz</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

BBC star's heartbreaking plea after wife and daughters were killed

<p>Grief-stricken BBC racing commentator John Hunt has broken his silence after his wife and two daughters were <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/man-arrested-after-bbc-presenter-s-wife-and-children-murdered" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> during a crossbow attack. </p> <p>Carol Hunt, 61, Hannah Hunt, 28, and Louise Hunt, 25, were fatally injured at their home in North London last Tuesday, with Hertfordshire Police confirming that 26-year-old Kyle Clifford had been arrested in connection to their murders. </p> <p>Speaking to the <em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx825zwy2r5o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BBC</a></em> about the devastating incident, John's friend and fellow commentator, Matt Chapman, said, "Family means more to some than others and for John, his family unit was something he absolutely adored."</p> <p>"He told me: 'Matty, the message I would tell everyone is you never know when it's going to be the last day you see your family'."</p> <p>"The message was very clear: make the most of every day because you just don't know."</p> <p>Mr Chapman said proceeds from a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-family-of-john-hunt" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">fundraiser </a>set up after the horrifying attack, which has currently raised more than $53,000 AUD, will go to John's surviving daughter, Amy. </p> <p>He said John had said his "biggest desire" was to make sure Amy had "no money worries for the rest of her life".</p> <p>"There are a lot of people, including myself, who feel helpless and would like to do something," he said.</p> <p>"John would like nothing more for Amy after these horrific events than a life that is a little less stressful, because life will never be stress-free again."</p> <p>"It's not going to take their grief away - it's not going to take the pain away or change anything - but it might help them have an easier life."</p> <p>John and Amy released a joint statement on Saturday, thanking the public for their messages of support during what they described as "an extremely difficult time for us".</p> <p>"The devastation that we are experiencing cannot be put into words," they said. </p> <p>"We would like to thank people for their kind messages and for the support we have received in recent days. These have provided great comfort to us for which we are very grateful."</p> <p>"As you can imagine, this is an extremely difficult time for us, and we need time and space to come to terms with what has happened and start the grieving process."</p> <p>As the investigation continues into the brutal deaths, police shared that they have not yet been able to speak to him as he remains in a serious condition after suffering self-inflicted wounds. </p> <p><em>Image credits: GoFundMe / Facebook</em></p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

"You've restored my faith": Community shows up for lonely birthday boy

<p>One dad's desperate plea has "restored" his faith after his local community showed up for his son's third birthday party. </p> <p>Pre-schooler William Buck and his dad Steven sat patiently on a beach in Wellington, waiting for his friends to arrive and begin the celebrations for his third birthday party. </p> <p>As time passed, William and his dad grew more hopeless, and they worried about the fate of the celebrations. </p> <p>"He kept asking where everyone was, and we were like 'they’re coming soon'," Steven Buck told <em><a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/parenting/133203054/familys-plea-after-nobody-shows-at-3yearolds-birthday-brings-community-to-beach" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" data-ylk="slk:Stuff;cpos:2;pos:1;elm:context_link;itc:0" data-rapid_p="9" data-v9y="1">Stuff</a></em>.</p> <p>Steven felt "guilty" that none of his son's mates had come to the party, especially given how excited his son had been for this birthday, as he had been talking about the celebration for weeks. </p> <p>In a last ditch effort to make William's day special, Steven turned to social media for help. </p> <p>Steven posted an image of the pair online and invited any locals wanting "some sun and sand" to join them.</p> <p>"William would love some friends to play with. He has Hot Wheels, sand toys, dinos, and we have some snacks and drinks. Any and all welcome," he wrote.</p> <p>Amazingly, locals responded in their thousands, wishing William a 'Happy Birthday' while many others joined the three-year-old and his parents.</p> <p>"Going there. See you soon," one local wrote, before arriving with her family.</p> <p>The partygoers arrived with bubbles and inflatables, parking themselves down on beach chairs ready to celebrate the sunny day with William.</p> <p>"Thank you so much everyone for the birthday wishes and support," Steven wrote online after the day. "Wellington you always restore my faith in humanity!"</p> <p><em>Image credits: Facebook</em></p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

"Any tips?": Bruce Willis’ wife posts heartfelt plea

<p dir="ltr">Bruce Willis’ wife, Emma Heming Willis has shared an emotional plea after the actor’s <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/cruel-disease-bruce-willis-given-heartbreaking-new-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">devastating diagnosis</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">Emma took to Instagram to ask families of dementia sufferers for advice on how to help their loved ones navigate the world safely.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To other caregivers or dementia care specialists navigating this world…. Any tips or advice on how to get your loved ones out in the world safely?” she captioned the post.</p> <p dir="ltr">Emma started off the video by raising awareness about dementia and how stressful it is as a caregiver to help their loved ones navigate this illness.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If you are someone who is looking after someone who has dementia, you know how difficult and how stressful it can be, just to get them out into the world and navigate them safely - even just to get a cup of coffee,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">She also called out the photographers trying to get exclusive images and video footage of Bruce while he was out.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s clear there’s still a lot of education that needs to be put forth,” she said in the video as a PSA.</p> <p dir="ltr">Bruce, 67, was spotted out and about last week, for the first time since his family shared that had been <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/cruel-disease-bruce-willis-given-heartbreaking-new-diagnosis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD)</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“To the photographers and video people that are trying to get those exclusives of my husband out and about, just keep your space. I know this is your job, but maybe just keep your space.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“For the video people, please don’t be yelling at my husband asking him how he’s doing, whatever, the woohoo-ing, the yippee ki yay’s, just don’t do it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“Give him the space. Allow for our family or whoever’s with him that day to be able to get him from point A to point B safely,” she pleaded.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpX_DYdJuXb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CpX_DYdJuXb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Emma Heming Willis (@emmahemingwillis)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Many fans have shared their support and shared their own experiences.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My mom is newly struggling with dementia and everything is confusing and scary. I can’t understand photographers/reporters behaving in that way around someone struggling with this disease. Shame on them,” one commented.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Remember to not take anything to heart that he may say or do. When he gets stuck on one rant, redirect the conversation. Please don’t try to do this on your own. It’s ok to cry, cuz this is a tough ride,” commented another fan.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Instagram</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

"I would like to get my father back": Prince Harry's desperate plea to his family

<p>Prince Harry has shared an emotional plea as he wishes to rekindle his relationship with his family. </p> <p>New trailers have been released for the Duke of Sussex's interview with ITV, which is due to air next week, as he said the royal family have “shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile” with him.</p> <p>Harry tells ITV’s Tom Bradby in the explosive trailer, “It never needed to be this way. The leaking, the planting, I want a family – not an institution.”</p> <p>“They feel as though it’s better to keep us, somehow, as the villains. They’ve shown absolutely no willingness to reconcile."</p> <p>“I would like to get my father back. I would like to have my brother back.”</p> <p>The full 90-minute interview, which was filmed in California, will air on Sunday – just two days before Harry's memoir <em>Spare</em> is released.</p> <p>Prince Harry also spoke with US news network CBS, as the trailer for the interview with journalist Anderson Cooper shows the Duke further condemning his family's actions towards him and wife Meghan Markle. </p> <p>He said, “Every single time I have tried to do it privately there have been briefings and leakings and planting of stories against me and my wife”.</p> <p>“The family motto is ‘never complain never explain’. But it’s just a motto. It doesn’t really hold. There’s endless [complaining and explaining] through leaks."</p> <p>“They will feed or have a conversation with the correspondent and that correspondent will be spoon fed information and write the story."</p> <p>“Then at the bottom of it they will say that they have reached out to Buckingham Palace for comment.</p> <p>“But the whole story is Buckingham Palace commenting."</p> <p>“So when we are being told for the last six years we can’t put a statement out to protect you, but you do it for the rest of the family, there becomes a point when silence is betrayal.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images / ITV</em></p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

“Give us the closure we need”: Chris Dawson's daughter's desperate plea

<p dir="ltr">Chris Dawson’s eldest daughter has addressed her father with an emotional plea during a court hearing prior to his sentencing for murdering his wife, Lynette.</p> <p dir="ltr">Shanelle Dawson delivered a victim-impact statement during the hearing at the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, where she pleaded with her father to “finally admit the truth”.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/stunning-chris-dawson-verdict-handed-down" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dawson was convicted of Lynette’s murder</a> by Justice Ian Harrison in August after one of the country’s most high-profile trials.</p> <p dir="ltr">The former teacher wasn’t charged over the murder until 2018 and has always maintained that Lynette walked out of their family in the early 1980s.</p> <p dir="ltr">Fighting back tears, Shanelle told the court she had endured “41 years of deceit, silence, trauma and gaslighting” at the hands of her father.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The night you removed our mother from our lives was the night you destroyed my sense of safety and belonging in this world for many years to come," she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Her father sat silently in the dock and looked at the floor while Shanelle told him he had “no right” to take away her mother.</p> <p dir="ltr">“You are not God”, she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"I went to great lengths to keep the secret from my daughter… Unfortunately her friend told her. I had to explain to my beautiful innocent daughter why her grandfather killed her grandmother. </p> <p dir="ltr">"She kept asking, 'Why did he do that?' The same question which tortured me for years and years.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Why didn't you just divorce her? Because of money? For God's sake."</p> <p dir="ltr">Shanelle was four when her mother was last seen, and her sister was two.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Why didn’t you just divorce her, and let those who love and need her, keep her?” Shanelle continued.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It hurts me deeply to think of you in jail for the rest of your life but I also choose not to carry your burdens anymore.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The now 44-year-old said the thought of Dawson being in jail hurt because she had lost her mother and father too, and she asked him to reveal where her mother was.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Please tell us where she is," Shanelle said. </p> <p dir="ltr">"I hope you will finally admit the truth to yourself and give us the closure we need."</p> <p dir="ltr">The court also heard statements from Lynette’s siblings, Gregory Simms and Patricia Jenkins, which were read out on their behalf.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Simms wrote that Dawson had been accepted into the family but “repaid us by committing the ultimate betrayal”.</p> <p dir="ltr">He added that the years of lying to the Simms family and his own daughters showed that Dawson was a “conniving monster hell-bent on … getting what you wanted at any cost”.</p> <p dir="ltr">"To see you sitting there during the trial, showing no remorse or accountability ... confirmed in my mind that you are a coward and can only see things from your own perspective and gain," Mr Simms wrote.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We ask you to do the decent thing and allow us to bring Lyn home to rest, finally giving her the decency she deserves."</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Jenkins wrote of her initial confusion of learning that her sister was missing and that a “black cloud” had been hanging over the family for 40 years.</p> <p dir="ltr">She said she had watched her sister be reduced from a “vibrant, caring, funny and intelligent” woman to one without confidence by Dawson even before her death.</p> <p dir="ltr">It comes after Justice Harrison found that Dawson was motivated to kill Lynette because of an “obsessive infatuation” with “JC”, the family’s teenaged babysitter who was a student at the school he taught at and his future wife.</p> <p dir="ltr">The judge said Dawson was “tortured” at the prospect of losing “JC” while he was “shackled with a wife” he wanted to leave.</p> <p dir="ltr">During his marathon judgement, Justice Harrison ruled that Lynette died on or around January 8, 1982, and was satisfied that Dawson’s claims of speaking with her after that date were “lies”.</p> <p dir="ltr">In Thursday’s hearing, Crown prosecutor Craig Everson SC argued that Dawson had planned the murder for at least six days.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The death of Lynette and the offender's subsequent campaign of disinformation left her parents and siblings in a state of anxiety and uncertainty for decades," he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">Greg Walsh, Dawson’s lawyer, said that the murder was an “isolated” and “precipitous” act and that Dawson had been receiving death threats <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/news/news/detailed-look-at-chris-dawson-s-first-day-behind-bars" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in jail</a>, where inmates called him “The Teacher’s Pet”, in reference to the podcast that thrust the case into the spotlight.</p> <p dir="ltr">The hearing concluded with Justice Harrison reserving his judgement, with Dawson’s sentence due to be handed down on December 2.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fa67992a-7fff-b1a0-a1d4-9e3cc41df528"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

"Return our stolen diamonds!": Renewed pleas over the Great Star of Africa 

<p>In the wake of Queen Elizabeth II's passing, calls in South Africa are growing stronger for the British royal family to return the world’s largest known clear-cut diamond.</p> <p>Known as the “Great Star of Africa” or “Cullinan I”, the diamond is cut from a larger gem that was mined in South Africa in 1905. It was handed over to the British royal family by South Africa’s colonial authorities. At the moment, the diamond resides on a royal sceptre that belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.</p> <p>Demands for the return of the Great Star of Africa and other items have intensified since the Queen's death, as many South Africans view Britain's acquisition of the jewels as illegitimate.</p> <p>"The Cullinan Diamond must be returned to South Africa with immediate effect," activist Thanduxolo Sabelo has told local media, adding that: "The minerals of our country and other countries continue to benefit Britain at the expense of our people."</p> <p>According to the Royal Collection Trust, which oversees the royal collection of the British royal family, the Great Star of Africa was presented to King Edward VII in 1907, two years after its discovery in a private mine.</p> <p>Supporting the British monarchy's claim to the precious stone, the Royal Asscher Diamond Company has said that the gem was purchased by South Africa's Transvaal government (run by British rule) and presented to King Edward VII as a birthday gift.</p> <p>A University of South Africa professor of African politics, Everisto Benyera, rejects this narrative, telling CNN that "colonial transactions are illegitimate and immoral”.</p> <p>"Our narrative is that the whole Transvaal and Union of South Africa governments and the concomitant mining syndicates were illegal," Benyera has said, arguing that: "Receiving a stolen diamond does not exonerate the receiver. The Great Star is a blood diamond ... The private (mining) company, the Transvaal government, and the British Empire were part of a larger network of coloniality."</p> <p>According to the Royal Asscher, the Cullinan diamond was cut into nine large stones and 96 smaller pieces. The largest of these was named the Great Star of Africa by King Edward VII, who also named the second largest cut stone the Smaller Star of Africa.</p> <p>The larger diamond was set in the Sovereign's Sceptre with Cross and the second cut stone was mounted in the Imperial Crown, which has been on display this week on the Queen's coffin.</p> <p>African countries continue to fight for the recovery of cultural artefacts that have been stolen by colonial troops, with more than 6000 people signing a petition for the return of the jewel so that it can be displayed in a South African museum.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Legal

Placeholder Content Image

Jada's plea to Will Smith and Chris Rock

<p>Jada Pinkett Smith has directly addressed her husband Will’s infamous Academy Awards outburst in the latest episode of her online chat show, Red Table Talk.</p> <p>Looking straight into the camera, Jada called on both her husband and Chris Rock, to put aside their differences and make peace.</p> <p>Best Actor Oscar winner, Will shocked viewers worldwide when he invaded the stage and smacked Rock, who had made a joke about Jada’s bald head. She has been open in recent years about being diagnosed with hair loss disorder alopecia.</p> <p>Jada’s latest episode of Red Table Talk was dedicated to telling the stories of those with alopecia, so she addressed the elephant in the room upfront.</p> <p>“This is a really important Red Table Talk on alopecia. Considering what I’ve been through with my own health and what happened at the Oscars,” she began.</p> <p>“Now about Oscar night: My deepest hope is that these two intelligent, capable men have an opportunity to heal, talk this out and reconcile,” she said, referring to her husband and Rock.</p> <p>She also seemed to suggest the reconciliation should play out on Red Table Talk, telling viewers: “The state of the world today, we need them both. And we all actually need one another more than ever. Until then, Will and I are continuing to do what we have done for the last 28 years, and that’s keep figuring out this thing called life together. Thank you for listening.”</p> <p>Jada has used the Red Table Talk format to publicly work through family issues in the past, famously opening up about an extramarital relationship in a past episode as her husband sat and watched.</p> <p>It’s a rare public statement from anyone in the Smith family about what went down on Oscars night, with Will keeping quiet aside from an apologetic statement released the day after the awards, saying his behaviour was “unacceptable and inexcusable.”</p> <p>Rock, too, hasn’t gone into too much detail, telling the audience at his next stand-up show: “I’m still kind of processing what happened. So, at some point I’ll talk about that sh*t. And it will be serious and funny.”</p> <p>Will Smith won the Best Actor Oscar just half an hour after slapping Rock, but since that night, his career has gone quiet, with several upcoming projects either delayed or cancelled.</p> <p><em>Image: Red Table Talk</em></p>

Mind

Placeholder Content Image

Tracey Spicer's bedridden plea

<p dir="ltr">Media personality Tracey Spicer has shared an insight into life with long Covid, saying the condition has left her feeling like “a shadow of her former self”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Spicer, best known as a journalist, newsreader and #MeToo campaigner, caught COVID-19 while holidaying on the Gold Coast and was diagnosed in January.</p> <p dir="ltr">After being bedridden for two weeks as she recovered from symptoms including a severe cough, she told <em><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/long-covid-tracey-spicer-health-coronavirus-news-australia/0ba8cffa-7ed2-4f82-94dd-fab69b598b77" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nine.com.au</a></em> that she’s still so sick that she struggles to work.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve felt like a shadow of my former self. I’ve been swimming through mud every day,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Even cooking a meal can be absolutely crushing. I can hardly walk around the block.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve had the debilitating exhaustion, and I also had a very worrying four weeks where I was in and out of hospital with chest pain, I thought I was having a heart attack.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The Sydneysider is triple vaccinated and, having received differing advice on how to look after herself, has called on Australia to improve its response to long Covid and how it helps patients like her.</p> <p dir="ltr">One GP told Ms Spicer to push through her fatigue, which a long Covid expert at St Vincent’s Hospital later advised against.</p> <p dir="ltr">“He said, ‘I’ve had so many people like you come in - you must stop exercising altogether immediately’,” she recalled.</p> <p dir="ltr">Previously, Ms Spicer would exercise for two hours a day and had been training to undertake a 30-kilometre walk.</p> <p dir="ltr">Since battling it out with the virus, Ms Spicer has been diagnosed with mild pericarditis, a swelling of tissue around the heart, which has been <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/13/10/1997" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> in patients who have recovered from COVID-19. </p> <p dir="ltr">Although new long Covid clinics have started in Sydney and other areas, Ms Spicer is calling on the government to accelerate their efforts to care for the tens or hundreds of thousands who may be affected by this condition.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Australia is so far behind the rest of the world in its understanding of it - America has labelled it as a disability,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">"We need a government-led public information campaign to inform health care workers and doctors as well as the public about the symptoms, and what they should be doing about it.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Otherwise we're going to end up with this wave of disability like what they've seen in other countries, and the society and the workplace are just not ready for it."</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Spicer is one of a growing number of ‘long haulers’ sharing their experiences, including several people <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60708123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who spoke to the BBC</a> after having long Covid for two years and Australian journalist Felicity Nelson, who <a href="https://medium.com/@frogsandstars/life-on-a-timer-35495b485ecb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">described</a> long Covid as living “life on a timer”.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-d355fe78-7fff-694b-dd98-7dac132cab63"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @traceyspicer (Instagram)</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

“Please come back”: Bali’s plea over pandemic fallout

<p dir="ltr">Before the world was struck with Covid-19, Bali was a thriving holiday hotspot for millions of global travellers each year. </p> <p dir="ltr">The sandy beaches and bustling nightlife saw more than 1.3 million Australians descend on Bali in 2019 alone, injecting billions into the local economy. </p> <p dir="ltr">However, two years later, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the Indonesian island, with local businesses struggling to survive. </p> <p dir="ltr">The busy streets of Seminyak, which were once filled with boutiques and shops, are now dead and devoid of people. </p> <p dir="ltr">Shop windows are boarded up, while other businesses have been abandoned all together. </p> <p dir="ltr">An employee at a local jewellery shop, whose store was the only one open in the street, told news.com.au, that the past two years had “not been good”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We barely see anybody, it’s so quiet. Nothing is open. Most of the people I know haven’t been able to work. We are one of the only places that managed to stay open,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">A local tour guide said she had spent the last years of the pandemic doing whatever she could to survive, by making snacks and selling them to local shops. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Please, please come back to Bali,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We are ready for Aussies.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The guide also asked travellers to be patient and understanding of the Balinese people when they return for holidays. </p> <p dir="ltr">“Before the pandemic, the shops would charge maybe four or five times the price but now they’re not. They know they need to build that trust and relationship back with the Aussies so you can barter a little bit but please don’t do it too much,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">On March 15th, the first flight from Australia to Bali was packed full of eager travellers, with the people of Bali welcoming tourists back to their home to reinvigorate their economy. </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

International Travel

Placeholder Content Image

Medvedev’s emotional plea “on behalf of every kid in the world”

<p>Russian tennis champion Daniil Medvedev has made an emotional plea for peace "on behalf of every kid in the world" as his country continues to wage war on Ukraine. </p> <p>His touching statement comes on the back of a poignant speech he gave at the Australia Open after losing to Rafael Nadal, in which he made a startling declaration at a press conference.</p> <p>"It's going to be a little bit of a new press conference because I'm going to start with short or long, I don't know, story of a young kid who dreamed about big things in tennis," Medvedev told reporters.</p> <p>He went on to admit "the kid stopped dreaming", after saying he felt discouraged by the crowd at the Australian Open games, who unleashed a barrage of boos towards the Russian whenever he came to the court.  </p> <p>With the same sentiment, the tennis star took to Instagram to have his say on Russia's war on Ukraine, and pleaded for peace between the two countries for the sake of innocent young children. </p> <p>"Do you all remember what I have said after Australian Open final?" Medvedev wrote on Instagram on Monday.</p> <p>"This story was just about me, my childhood dreams."</p> <p>"And today I want to speak on behalf of every kid in the world," Medvedev added.</p> <p>Medvedev addressed the ongoing conflict between the two countries which was orchestrated by president Vladimir Putin, and has led to the hundreds of death and condemnation from around the globe.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CafU02gomBS/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CafU02gomBS/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Medvedev Daniil (@medwed33)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>"They all have dreams, their life is just starting, so many nice experiences to come: first friends, first great emotions. Everything they feel and see is for the first time in their lives.</p> <p>"That's why I want to ask for peace in the world, for peace between countries.</p> <p>"Kids are born with inner trust in the world, they believe so much in everything: in people, in love, in safety and justice, in their chances in life.</p> <p>"Let's be together and show them that it's true, cause every kid shouldn't stop dreaming."</p> <p>He then translated his thoughts into his native Russian language and shared them to Instagram, where the post has racked up over 100,000 likes in a matter of hours. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Instagram @medwed33</em></p>

News

Placeholder Content Image

Special Forces veteran delivers heartfelt plea over stolen puppy

<p>Special Forces veteran Luke Evans has launched an emotional appeal after his seven-week old puppy was stolen from his doggy daycare farm on Monday morning</p><p>The father-of-three set up the farm on NSW's Central Coast three years ago with the help of his wife following 11 years of service in the navy to help him cope with his PTSD. </p><p>The farm offers daycare for pets and also works to rehabilitate and find forever homes for rescue dogs. </p><p>The dogs, who were all secret inside at the time of the theft, began barking around 4am to alert the couple that something was wrong. </p><p>The navy veteran got up to check out the commotion, but didn't find out of the ordinary. </p><p>It wasn't the next morning that Luke realised one of their beautiful blue-eyed Australian Shepherd-husky cross litter pups was missing. </p><p>The puppy was taken from a seperate room where the litter was being kept away from the larger dogs during the night. </p><p></p><p>"This little male pup that has been taken is just 7 weeks old, incredibly cute, two bright blue eyes and perfect Blue Merle and White markings," the family wrote online.</p><p>"The little one is microchipped and the number has been reported as stolen."</p><p>"We sincerely hope that someone might make the right decision to hand him in somewhere. Or perhaps someone might recognise him and let the police know."</p><p>"We are heartbroken. Numb. Terribly deflated. So many emotions right now. Disappointed. Disbelief. Concerned. Upset. Angry. Lost," the post read. </p><p>The 37-year-old navy veteran suspects the thief had been watching his daycare's YouTube channel, where he shares updates on his animals and an insight into their life on the farm, in order to plan the daring heist.</p><p>Following the theft, the farm has been set up with extra security measures including multiple cameras and alarms to keep their animals safe.</p><p><em>Image credits: Facebook - Doggy Daycare Farm Trips </em></p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

Grieving mother’s plea to finish son’s composition answered

<p dir="ltr">A grieving mother has put out a worldwide call for musicians to finish her son’s first musical composition. </p><p dir="ltr">12-year-old Kyan Pennell passed away on January 31st after a tragic accident on his family’s property when he got caught between a trailer and a gate.</p><p dir="ltr">Kyan’s mum Amanda Brierley said he started learning piano just seven months ago, and unbeknownst to her, had started writing his own music. </p><p dir="ltr">"The thing that has given us some little part of Kyan to hold onto is when I found this composition he was working on in the middle of a blank exercise book," she told <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/brisbane/">ABC Radio Brisbane</a>. </p><p dir="ltr">"I didn't realise that he knew how to write music. He said he wanted to know how to get what was inside his head out on paper and he must have been learning how to do that."</p><p dir="ltr">Amanda said Kyan’s neurodiversity gave him a “superpower” to focus and learn more than 30 classical music pieces in just a few months. </p><p dir="ltr">Earlier in February, Amanda posted a photo of Kyan’s unfinished work and asked other musicians to help finish it.</p><p dir="ltr">"This was just the intro, it is unfinished," she wrote.</p><p dir="ltr">"He was building up to a grand mid-section and then would do an ending but he never got to complete what was in his mind's eye.</p><p dir="ltr">"He imagined it to be performed by wind and string instruments, and of course his beloved piano."</p><p dir="ltr">Amanda said she has received dozens of submissions and hoped to collect as many as she could to help honour her "beautiful boy".</p><p dir="ltr">"Finding this composition was an unexpected gift from him," she said.</p><p dir="ltr">"Unfortunately we never got to hear him play it, so I want the world to be able to play it for me.”</p><p dir="ltr">"I just want to be able to change his memory from a tragic accident to something of beauty for others as well."</p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: Facebook / Amanda Brierley</em></p>

Music

Placeholder Content Image

"Every day is getting harder": Cleo Smith's mother makes new plea

<p>Ellie Smith has put out yet another heart-wrenching plea for the safe return of her daughter, Cleo.</p> <p>As Halloween celebrations came and went, with children across WA trick or treating, Ms Smith said her family missed the four-year-old more than ever.</p> <p>“Every day is getting harder without my shining bright light,” she said on Instagram.</p> <p>“Today she missed Halloween with her family – her cousins, aunties, uncles, nannas and pop but most of all her parents and baby sister. She needs us and we need her.”</p> <p>“I need my baby girl home, please I beg you!</p> <p>“If you have ANYONE acting suspicious PLEASE CALL if you’ve seen her, CALL!</p> <p>“If you have any important information CALL!”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVsoojbBLyY/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CVsoojbBLyY/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Ellie Smith (@elliejaydee23)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Ms Smith signed off with the emergency number 1800 333 000.</p> <p>Little Cleo has not been seen since she vanished from the family’s tent more than two weeks ago in the early hours of Saturday, October 16. Despite an extensive search and ongoing investigation, there appear to be no suspects of her abduction.</p>

Family & Pets

Placeholder Content Image

Andy Murray finds stolen wedding ring after issuing plea on social media

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Tennis legend Andy Murray took to Instagram on Thursday to issue an unusual plea: help finding his missing wedding ring. According to the video, Murray had left his tennis shoes outside to air them out, and naturally, his wedding ring was tied to his shoes as he can’t wear it when he’s playing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Last night after dinner here in Indian Wells, I got back in the car to go back to the hotel and the car didn’t smell great,” he said. “I’d left my tennis shoes in there. It’s been like 38-39 degrees so the shoes are damp, sweaty and smelly.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I decided when I got back to the hotel that the shoes needed some air, I needed to dry them out a little bit. I have no balcony in my room and didn’t want to leave them in my room because it would stink the room out. “So I thought I’m going to leave the shoes underneath the car to get some air to them and dry them out overnight.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUt3I1jMnCS/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUt3I1jMnCS/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unfortunately, when he got back to the car, the shoes were gone. “I had to go to a local pro shop to buy different shoes to what I normally wear — different brand and everything — which isn’t the end of the world but obviously not ideal.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It wasn’t until later, when his physio pointed out his wedding ring was missing, that Murray realised something far more valuable had been lost. “Needless to say I’m in the bad books at home so I want to try and find it,” he said. “If anyone can share this or may have any clue where it may be, it would be very helpful so I can try get it back.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fortunately, the saga has a happy ending. Murray posted an update on Thursday afternoon, letting his followers know that the shoes and the ring had been found. He thanked his fans for sharing the story, and explained that after making a few calls and chatting to hotel security, the incredibly smelly shoes and the ring were both returned to him.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvmTIzoVM7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvmTIzoVM7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“They still absolutely stink, but the shoes are back, the wedding ring is back, and I’m back in the good books. Let’s go!”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Murray is in California for the Indian Wells tournament, with Murray set to play France’s Adrian Mannarino in his first round match on Saturday.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Andy Murray/Instagram</span></em></p>

Relationships

Placeholder Content Image

“We’ll die slowly in history”: Afghan girl’s sorrowful plea

<p dir="ltr">A video of an unidentified Afghan girl crying after the Taliban took over the capital of Afghanistan is being shared online.</p> <p dir="ltr">The video, which has been translated into English, shows the young woman finding it hard to cope with her new future.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We don’t count because we were born in Afghanistan,” she says in the clip.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I cannot help crying. I have to wipe my tears to be able to film this video.</p> <p dir="ltr">“No one cares about us. We’ll die slowly in history.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She ends the video with the question, “Isn’t it funny?”</p> <p dir="ltr">The video was shared by journalist and activist Masih Alinejad and has been viewed more than 1.7 million times.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">"We don't count because we're from Afghanistan. We'll die slowly in history"<br /><br />Tears of a hopeless Afghan girl whose future is getting shattered as the Taliban advance in the country.<br /><br />My heart breaks for women of Afghanistan. The world has failed them. History will write this. <a href="https://t.co/i56trtmQtF">pic.twitter.com/i56trtmQtF</a></p> — Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1426195246694780930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The journalist described the video as the “tears of a hopeless Afghan girl whose future is getting shattered as the Taliban advance in the country”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Alinejad added that her “heart breaks for the women in Afghanistan”, as she fears women’s basic freedoms and rights will be taken away under Taliban rule.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Iranian journalist has since interviewed the girl in the video, sharing on Twitter that they “cried together because we both know the nature of the Islamic regime and their lies”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She’s only 23 years old, full of pain and anger. Please listen to her and be her voice.”</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">My in-depth interview with the Afghan girl who’s heartbreaking crying video become symbol of ‘shattered future’ under Taliban<br /><br />She’s only 23 years old, full of pain and anger. Please listen to her and be their voice. <a href="https://t.co/oUiOe7ApG7">pic.twitter.com/oUiOe7ApG7</a></p> — Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlinejadMasih/status/1427526187916701718?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2021</a></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The clip has been shared all over social media, including by Khaled Hosseini, the author who used his time growing up in Afghanistan to write<span> </span><em>The Kite Runner</em>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The United States has a moral obligation. Admit as many Afghan refugees as possible,” he pleaded via Twitter.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img style="width: 500px; height: 229.06976744186048px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7843215/860x394-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/52d78bdec78f4f3b8c94797880906d52" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Department of Defense, @MarcusReports</em></p> <p dir="ltr">The video comes as shocking images of Afghans fleeing the country have also been shared, depicting hundreds of people desperately trying to board an American military transport plane.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: TikTok</em></p>

News

Placeholder Content Image

Mum's desperate plea after deodorant leaves daughter with brain damage

<p>A Queensland mother has shared a desperate plea for parents to discuss the dangers of solvent abuse with their kids.</p> <p>The emotional appeal comes after Sarah Nevins found her 16-year-old daughter Chloe lying in bushland without a pulse. </p> <p>Chloe has been inhaling toxic fumes from a deodorant aerosol can with her boyfriend on June 1st when she went into cardiac arrest, cutting off the oxygen supply from her brain. </p> <p>The concerned mum told The Courier Mail that her daughter was taken to <span>the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital with a hypoxic brain injury, and remains confined to her hospital bed over a month later. </span></p> <p><span>Sarah said, “I had no idea she was chroming, I didn’t even know that people did that.”</span></p> <p><span>Chroming, more commonly known as solvent abuse, is when people try to get high by inhaling chemicals like paint, glue, petrol or other solvents. </span></p> <p><span>Sarah said that paramedics performed CPR on Chloe for almost 30 minutes before she was admitted to the Brisbane hospital. </span></p> <p><span>The mum posted a series of photos and videos of her unconscious child with a tracheostomy tube in her neck fighting for life.</span></p> <p>“It’s upsetting because you’re looking at a wasted life,” she told The Courier Mail.</p> <p>“Her quality of life is going to be severely impacted for the rest of her life.”</p> <p>Sarah is hoping the shocking images of her daughter will prompt parents to <span>their children about the dangers of chroming. </span></p> <p><span>She is also campaigning for manufacturers to remove toxic ingredients from their aerosol products to prevent further issues of solvent abuse. </span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Facebook</em></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

“Come with me if you want to live”: Arnie's plea goes viral

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hollywood legend and former Governor of California Arnold </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Schwarznegger has posted a message for those hesitant to get the COVID-19 jab. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 73-year-old took to Facebook to encourage people to get the vaccine for the good of themselves and everyone else, which has gone viral. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Schwarznegger has famously pushed for people in the US to accept any vaccine available to them in order to get the pandemic under control. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In his post, he highlighted the importance of listening to experts and not unreliable online sources. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said, “</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">I always say you should know your strengths and listen to the experts. If you want to learn about building biceps, listen to me.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Dr. Fauci and all of the virologists and epidemiologists and doctors have studied diseases and vaccines for their entire lives, so I listen to them and I urge you to do the same. None of us are going to learn more than them by watching a few hours of videos.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He went on to express the importance of not relying on misinformation about the COVID jab, and for people to admit they don’t know as much as the experts.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Some people say it is weak to listen to experts. That’s bogus. It takes strength to admit you don’t know everything. Weakness is thinking you don’t need expert advice and only listening to sources that confirm what you want to believe.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The post has seen new light with high-profile figures such as columnist Piers Morgan, American journalist Brooke Cain and championship basketballer Rex Chapman all resposting the important message.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The post comes after Schwarenegger’s video of him getting vaccinated also went viral in January.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He got his jab at a drive-through vaccination site in Los Angeles, and encouraged others to do the same saying, “Come with me if you want to live.”</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credit: Shutterstock</span></em></p>

Movies

Placeholder Content Image

Hugh Jackman’s plea: “Don’t be like me as a kid”

<p><span>Hugh Jackman has urged fans to look after their skin in a blunt Instagram post.</span><br /><br /><span>The 52-year-old <em>Greatest Showman</em> star has been treated for skin cancer more than six times, and took to social media after a recent visit to the doctors and dermatologist.</span><br /><br /><span>"Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know," he said while pulling down his face mask to show a small BandAid on his nose.</span><br /><br /><span>"I just went to see Lisa and Trevor, my amazing dermatologist and doctors. They saw something that was a little irregular so they took a biopsy, getting it checked. So if you see a shot of me with this on, do not freak out."</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE_N1FHu78/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CSE_N1FHu78/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><br /><span>"Thank you for your concern," he went on to say.</span><br /><br /><span>"I'll let you know what's going on but they think it's probably fine."</span><br /><br /><span>Jackman wrapped up the video by saying: "Remember, go and get a check and wear sunscreen. Don't be like me as a kid. Just wear sunscreen."</span><br /><br /><span>The <em>Wolverine</em> star has been treated for skin cancer on his nose five times.</span><br /><br /><span>"A couple of notes ... please get skin checks often, please don't think it won't happen to you and, above all, please wear sunscreen,” he wrote.</span><br /><br /><span>In April, Jackman shared a clip of his ear bandaged up, revealing he had gotten a necessary skin check-up.</span><br /><br /><span>"OK guys, I recommend getting a skin check. Regularly," he began in the video, adding that Aussies are more likely to develop sun spots and skin cancer.</span><br /><br /><span>"I know I've said it before, I know I may be boring you with this but it's super easy to do and it's really, really important to be pre-emptive with these things."</span><br /><br /><span>"So, if you're like me and you didn't really know any better when you were young, and you didn't wear sunscreen, and you were in the Australian sun, then you need to get a check-up even more," he went on to say.</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3KnvNj0VW/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CP3KnvNj0VW/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><br /><span>"But if not, doesn't matter who you are. Next time you are with your doctor or with a specialist if you can, if you are with your doctor just say 'can you please give me a skin check?', at least once a year.</span><br /><br /><span>"I just had mine done, I just had a little biopsy, it's pre-cancerous, it's not much, but I'm really really glad I went."</span><br /><br /><span>Jackman has mentioned in the past how lucky he is to have not had any major cancer scares.</span><br /><br /><span>"It's just something I have to get out after being an Aussie with English parents, growing up in Australia, it's sort of the new normal for me," he said during a chat on Live! With Kelly back in 2017.</span><br /><br /><span>"One sunburn, you're susceptible to cancer. One. And all of this is 25, 30 years after, the doctor told me.</span><br /><br /><span>"Our rule, as kids, growing up, was you get burned and peel two or three times, then you're set."</span></p>

Caring

Placeholder Content Image

Hugh Jackman's important plea to all Aussies

<p dir="ltr">Hugh Jackman has shared an important message for his fans.</p> <p dir="ltr">The<span> </span><em>Wolverine</em><span> </span>star posted a video on Wednesday, April 14, to his Instagram encouraging followers to see their doctors for regular skin checks.</p> <p dir="ltr">“OK guys, I recommend getting a skin check,” Jackman started the video saying. “Regularly.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“I know I’ve said it before, I know I may be boring you with this but it’s super easy to do and it’s really, really, important to be preemptive with these things.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Jackman said that Aussies are particularly at risk to sunspots and skin cancers, especially if they were not as vigilant about sun protection in their younger years.</p> <p dir="ltr">“So, if you’re like me and you didn’t really know any better when you were young, and you didn’t wear sunscreen, and you were in the Australian sun, then you need to get a check-up even more.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“But if not, doesn’t matter who you are. Next time you are with your doctor or with a specialist if you can, if you are with your doctor just say ‘can you please give me a skin check?’ At least once a year,” he continues.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CMwsR5mjFZ7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CMwsR5mjFZ7/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">Jackman then showed his ear to the camera, which he explained had been taped up with a medical bandage following his most recent check-up.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I just had mine done, I just had a little biopsy, it’s pre-cancerous, it’s not much, but I’m really really glad I went,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The actor has used social media to document his treatment for skin cancer, which he has had more than six times but has never had any major scares.</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNH2BvIjGpB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CNH2BvIjGpB/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Hugh Jackman (@thehughjackman)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The Aussie star updated fans on his battle with skin cancer on<span> </span><em>Live! With Kelly</em><span> </span>in 2017, with assurances that he’s fine.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is skin cancer but the least dangerous form of it,” he said at the time. “So it’s just something I have to get out after being an Aussie with English parents, growing up in Australia, it’s sort of the new normal for me.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He also spoke on the risks of prolonged and unprotected exposure to the sun, saying, “So here’s the thing: One sunburn, you’re susceptible to cancer.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“One. And all of this is 25, 30 years after the doctor told me. Our rule, as kids growing up, was you get burned and peel two or three times, then you’re set.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Jackman concluded his recent Instagram video by pleading with fans to “wear sunscreen”.</p> <p> </p>

Body

Over 60

© Copyright 2024 OverSixty.All Rights Reserved.